


this too shall pass

by freedomatsea



Series: Hell's Kitchen Universe Pieces [30]
Category: Daredevil (TV)
Genre: Comfort Sex, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, I freaking love writing these two, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-16
Updated: 2016-04-16
Packaged: 2018-06-02 15:35:09
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6571783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/freedomatsea/pseuds/freedomatsea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It could have been Karen... </p><p>Set within 'penny for your thoughts' verse. Matt's righteous cause to stop Frank Castle from killing shitbags, causes an innocent woman to die.</p>
            </blockquote>





	this too shall pass

**Author's Note:**

> I highly recommend that you read 'penny for your thoughts' before you read this, but hey you could also be a rebel and read that after. But it does set up how they got together and one of their in-jokes so be a peach and read that too! 
> 
> Also, contrary to how often I shade Matt, I actually do love him. I just was so disappointed with how he behaved this season that my muses feel the urge to shade the loser. 
> 
> Again, shout out to my best friend for helping so much with these two!

Mack woke her up. He’d whined and scratched at her door until she opened it. She knew exactly what he was he doing. It’s Frank. He’s back and given Mack’s frantic attempt to wake Karen up, probably not in the best frame of mind. The dog’s smart – she’ll give him that.

Karen grabbed her house coat as she stepped into the hallway, a little uncertain of what she was going to find at the end of it. She could tell by the dim light that he was in the kitchen and he’d only bothered to turn on the pale yellow light that was above the stove.

“Frank?” She questioned gently, her arms wrapped around herself as she stood at the end of the hall, watching him work at the kitchen table. It was a small apartment – the hallway to her bedroom and bathroom was longer than the length of the main living area. She could smell the stench of gun oil, gunpowder, sweat, and blood coming from where he sat. “ _Frank_?”

He didn’t answer. Of course he wasn’t going to answer. Not in this state.

“Would you like some coffee?” Karen offered, even though she knew he wouldn’t answer. Despite his lack of a response, she put on a pot. She needed coffee, but she knew he did too. Whatever had happened tonight had been rough.

His face was already starting to turn those awful shades of purple and blue from bruising and there was blood caked under his nose from yet another break. His eyes were focused on the gun he was cleaning. His jaw was clenched so tightly that she was honestly surprised he hadn’t ground his teeth down to the bone yet.

“Here.” Karen sat a mug of coffee down in front of him, running her hand over his back. He was rigid and she was almost certain he had gone even more rigid when she touched him. Most people would be afraid of him like this, but she had _never_ been afraid of him.

Karen moved to sit across from him, taking a sip of her own coffee, her eyes flickering over his face. “Do you need ice?” She questioned, hating the silence. “Your cheek looks like it might be fractured.”

Frank gave a small grunt in response.

“I’m going to take that as yes.” Karen said, taking one more sip of coffee before getting up to get an icepack out of the freezer. A grunt was a start. “I’m not going to push you to talk to me, Frank. But you can. If you want to.”

Karen grabbed her chair and pulled it around beside him, brushing her fingers gently over his cheek before placing the icepack there. His eyes darted in her direction, before his focus returned to the gun in front of him.

“I don’t want _him_ coming around here anymore.” Frank muttered, his trigger fingers twitching.

“What happened?” Karen questioned, sitting the icepack down on the table, nudging gently at his chin to get him to look at her. She could only imagine what went down between him and Matt. Frank had said a dozen times overs that he tried to avoid the devil, but somehow he always reared his ugly head.

Frank’s hands balled into fists and he sank back in the chair. Defeated. “I’m going to rip him apart if he comes here again. I ain’t playing nice with him anymore Karen.”

“Okay.” Karen chewed on her bottom lip, studying the hooded look in his eyes. “But if I’m cutting him out completely, I deserve to know what happened. Did he do this to you?” She questioned, getting out of her seat to get a damp cloth to clean his face off with.

Frank was silent once again. He sat stiff as a board while she wiped away the dirt and blood off his skin.

“Are you going to spend the night?” Karen questioned, trying to change the subject, to see if _that_ would get him to talk.

He shrugged. “You want me to?”

“I’ll tell Ellison I’m sick. I’ll stay with you tomorrow.” Karen sighed, rubbing her hands together as she sat back in her chair. “Did Matt do this to you?”

Frank snorted, narrowing his eyes at her. “Bingo.” He looked away, staring at the blank wall for several long moments. “I could have killed him.”

Karen’s eyes widened at those words. Panic fluttered in her chest, until the words finally registered. _Could have_. He didn’t. Did he? “Frank…”

“Not _him_.” Frank snapped before turning to look at her, meeting her gaze with an apologetic look. He pitched forward, grasping at his nose to push it back into place as he hunkered over his legs. “He wouldn’t let me kill him Karen. He knocked me out of the fucking way just as I pulling the trigger.”

Karen frowned, covering her mouth as she watched him. She could feel the pain rolling off of him. Maybe she was backwards, because she was angry at Matt for keeping Frank killing someone. That didn’t seem right, but in her opinion Frank was in the right with what he did and Matt… he was the poster boy for misplaced ideologies. “What happened?”

“He killed her. I could’ve fucking stopped it if Red hadn’t had some righteous need to see second chances in every piece of shit. I wanted to rip his throat out Karen.”

“Who killed someone?” Karen questioned. Frank’s anger was slurring his words together and it wasn’t making that much sense to her.

“A piece of shit named Aaron Cassidy. In _real_ deep with all the wrong guys. Guys that specialize in GHB and whatever new shit they think is fun. This asshole thinks it’s fun to beat his women. _Young_ women. Well, I catch wind of this and I’m thinking _I think it’s fun to put bullets in guys like this._ Target practice, ya know.” His voice dropped to that lower, sinister tone that makes a shiver run up her spine.

Karen nodded slowly. She agreed that this piece of shit deserved what he had coming his way. “And Matt stopped you.”

“And Matt stopped me.” Frank repeated, gritting out each word. “The bastard got away and he killed her Karen. He killed an _innocent_ women because I couldn’t put him down in time. I was too fucking busy trying to not to get my goddamn neck snapped by a _fucking_ billyclub.”

“It’s not your fault.” Karen reminded him. “You can’t blame yourself.”

“I can and I will.”

“That’s not healthy.”

“And you think anything I do is?”

“Well,” Karen swallowed thickly, rubbing at her cheek. “I happen to think I’m kinda a healthy part of your life. I’m probably not actually, but I like to think I am.” She reached across the table for her cup of coffee, taking a sip. “I don’t like seeing you like this.”

Frank stared at her, unblinking, his lips drawn into a thin line before he finally shattered. His expression crumpled and though he didn’t cry, his face revealed the pain he felt. “She was blonde. Pretty thing. I used to see something like that and think of Maria. I’d relive not being able to save her. Not being able to protect _her_. But tonight… shit Karen.” He pushed back in the chair so hard that it made a godawful groan against the linoleum that made her stomach flop. “I saw _you_. Red had my head pinned under his fucking boot, so goddamn focused on beating the shit out of me, that I was forced to see it all go down. All I could see is that being you. That somehow, one day, you’re going to end up getting murdered because of _me_.”

Karen moved to him, wrapping herself around him. She held the back of his head so gently as he buried his face into the crook of her neck. His hands clutched at her like he thought she might just float away. She wanted to tell him that she wasn’t going to go anywhere, that she’d be perfectly safe, but they both knew that wasn’t the case. He’d had a nice, normal, safe life before and look what happened to the people he loved?

“I’m afraid I can’t let you to try to wiggle out of this arrangement.” Karen told him, trying to lighten the mood as she pulled back to look at him. “You know my secret.” She kept her voice as even as possible, though her lips were quirking up at the corners.

Frank’s brows knit together. “Wesley?”

She shook her head, running her hands over his chest, trying to check for any other wounds she needed to tend to. He wouldn’t wince, even if he was seriously hurt. He internalized it all. “ _Artichoke_.”

He laughed. There it was. She knew she could yank him out of that dark pit of despair he’d borrowed himself into. She wished she could go back and thank her eighteen year old self for picking that dumb tattoo because it was perfect.

“That’s the only reason you’re keeping me around, isn’t it?” Frank teased, hesitantly.

Karen debated for a moment, “That and you’re a _really_ good cuddler.”

“I don’t cuddle.”

“Both me and Mack would disagree I’m afraid.” She tilted her head. “You’re a damn fine cuddler.” She winked at him, before she pulled back. “I need you to take your shirt off, so I can make sure you haven’t cracked any ribs.”

Frank smirked. “You should see the other guy.” He was trying, if only for her, to put away the sullen, guilt ridden shit.

“But I’m not going to.” Karen assured him. At least not today, not while this was so raw. She knew, somewhere out there in Hell’s Kitchen, Matt was beating himself up about this mistake. But, honestly… it was his fault. Whose side was he on? Frank was doing the right thing, putting them down. He didn’t do it blindly either. He researched and she helped. She tried to stay out of his business, as best she could. But sometimes she saw an article come across her desk and she knew who could handle it when no one else did.

He flashed her a half smile, moving to grab his coffee. “Thank you.” He gestured to the coffee and the icepack.

“I try to do my part.” Karen said, hugging her arms around herself. “Come on now, shirt off.”

“You just want me naked.” Frank retorted, a slight twinge of pain on his face as he pulled off his shirt. His chest was covered in bruises, some were starting to turn yellow with age, but the ones from tonight were dark purple. “I’ve had worse.”

“I know you have.” Karen stepped closer to him, running her hand over his chest, gently applying pressure over his ribs. She watched his expression, trying to read the pain in his eyes when she lit over a particularly tender spot. “Not broken. Definitely seriously bruised. Take it easy tomorrow night.”

Frank frowned. “I’m killing him tomorrow night.”

“Please tell me you mean the Cassidy asshole and not Matt.” Karen whispered, giving him an uncertain look. She couldn’t be certain which one he meant. Cassidy made sense, she wanted the guy dead too, but Matt… it wasn’t that he deserved it, but he really deserved some sort of comeuppance. His righteous act was going to get more people killed.

“Yeah. Cassidy.” Frank sighed. ‘I ain’t gonna kill Red. Even though I wanna. I know it ain’t fair to you.”

Karen leaned in and kissed him. “Thank you. I’d lose Foggy as a friend if that happened.”

“Why’s he even friends with that asshole. I mean Foggy ain’t no catch of a friend, but at least he’s got a good head on his shoulders.” Frank remarked, his hand resting at her waist.

“Yes, well… They’re the only two people I can associate with right now. Anyone else would probably take great offense to me dating the Punisher.”

“They take offense.”

“Yes, but I choose to ignore their offense and they’re too afraid of you to not go along with it.” Karen rolled her eyes, “I know I can’t really make tonight better for you, but I can try.”

“See, I knew why you wanted me to take my shirt off.” Frank shook his head and laughed.

Karen snorted. “Don’t even act like we haven’t fucked you out of these moods before.” She reminded him, shoving playfully at his chest.

“I have no idea what you mean…” Frank said with a smirk. “I won’t argue though if I get to sleep on a nice bed tonight.”

She gave him a look. “ _Oh_ , so now it’s all about the bed. Huh? I recall you saying you liked that sleeping bag of yours.” Karen was just thankful that he was trying to be in better spirits. She hated when he got like this, she understood why but she hated it.

“Problem with that?”

“Oh, I don’t know… If that’s why you stay around, maybe I ought to let Mack sleep in the bed tonight instead.” She taunted.

“I’m also here for the breakfast. You make killer pancakes.”

Karen grinned a little. “So a bed and food… See, I’d believe that if you hadn’t shown up a couple times and slept on the sofa because you didn’t want to wake me up.”

“I wasn’t gonna wake you up tonight.”

“I’ve told you before to wake me up!” Karen narrowed her eyes at him. “I _want_ to know when you’re here. I want to know that you are in one piece.” She ran her hands over his chest again. “I worry about you.” No matter how many times he’d told her _not_ to worry about him, it was easier said than done.

Frank chuckled, his hands curling around her hips. “I guess you’re lucky Mack woke you up then.”

Karen nodded. “He was worried about you too.” She looked towards the dog, who was curled up on the sofa watching them from across the room.

Frank’s expression fell, his brows knitting together. His eyes had that far off, distant look. He was reliving what he saw tonight. “It could have been you, Karen.”

“But it wasn’t.” Karen whispered, brushing her fingers over his temple. “I was right here, safely asleep all night.”

“One day it _could_ be you.”

She frowned. “One day, yes. _Maybe_. But I don’t think either of us can tell the future, so it’s a moot point.” Karen cupped his cheeks, making him look at her. “I’m the one who should be worried about it being _you_ one day. But I knew that when I got involved in this.”

Frank leaned in and kissed her. Saying what couldn’t be said as easily with words. It was a rougher kiss, desperate. His fingers digging into her hips as he pulled her closer. He didn’t want to let her go and truth be told, she didn’t want him to.

Karen curled her fingers around the back of his neck, leaning into the kiss with her own edge of desperation. They went days without seeing each other sometimes, that was one of part of _this_ that she hated. She understood it, though. They couldn’t exactly have a normal relationship. She worked odd hours at the newspaper and he worked nights (and most of those nights involved getting covered in someone else’s blood and he hated subjecting her to that). But it was worth it.

She broke away from the kiss, breathing raggedly, “Bedroom.” Karen whispered, laughing when he leaned in to kiss her again like he couldn’t control himself.

Frank hauled her upwards in his arms, urging her to wrap her legs around him as he headed for the bedroom. Karen trailed her lips along his jawline, careful not to put too much pressure over any of the bruising.

He dropped her rather unceremoniously onto the middle of the bed, his weight pressing her into the mattress as his mouth descended onto hers again. Karen groaned, hooking a leg around him to draw him closer.

Frank caught one of her hands, drawing it above her head, pressing it against the mattress. His other hand worked to untie her nightgown, fingers skimming over the bare skin of her leg that was hooked around him.

Karen toyed with the hair at the nape of his neck as he dragged his lips along her jawline, down her throat. She wiggled beneath him, trying to get her hand free which was pretty much useless. He seemed to enjoy the way she writhed beneath him, which encouraged her to keep at it.

She wedged her free hand between them to get his pants undone, tugging at the zipper and freeing him from his pants. Karen still couldn’t get over the fact that Frank Castle went commando. But it worked for them, _quite_ well.

Karen pressed her palm against his chest, shoving at him gently to get her to sit back on his knees. “Get those off.” She ordered, giving him a _very_ serious look, tugging at one of the belt loops.

“You’re a demanding one.” Frank remarked, moving off the bed to take them off. He returned to bed, jerking at her sleep pants and underwear to get them both off in one fell sweep.

“Like you’re not demanding too.” Karen gave him a look, sitting up to take her shirt off, tossing it aside. She arched her back as she laid back on the bed, spreading her legs to accommodate him there.

Frank covered her again, settling himself between her thighs. He rocked against her, grinding his cock against her slick folds – teasing both of them. He was holding back. She could see it in the clench of his jaw and the uncertain grasp of his hand.

“Let go Frank.” Karen whispered, leaning up to brush her lips over his. “Gentle can wait.”

“Yeah.” Frank breathed out, nodding a little before he pulled back to sit on his knees. “ _Over_.”

Karen inhaled sharply, rolling onto her stomach beneath him. He curled his arm around her middle, hauling her up onto her hands and knees. She pressed back against him, groaning as he reached around to tease at her clit. His fingers tangled in her hair for support as he thrust into her.

“ _Fuck_.” Frank gritted out as his hips snapped forward, picking up the pace of his movements. He started out slow and steady, but it grew into a hasty, driving force that she was going to be feeling tomorrow. It’s what they both needed. They needed hard and fast, a reminder that they had each other.

Like this, he kept slamming into that sweet spot that made her entire body tremble in response. It made her cry out for him every time he bottomed out, filling her so deliciously full of him, before pulling out nearly completely. Her knuckles turned white, clutching at the sheets, desperate for something she could find purchase in.

“Frank!” Karen gasped out, biting down on her bottom lip in a vain attempt to mask her moans. His fingers circled her clit again and it was all it took to send her careening over the edge. She couldn’t hold back her cries then. She tried not to cry out his name, even in the throes of pleasure she was aware that shouting out Frank’s name was dangerous, on the off chance that the people in her building connected the dots. But it was hard to care when he made her feel so good.

Frank was right behind her, thrusting until he couldn’t any longer, going rigid behind her, spilling his release into her. He collapsed atop her, crushing her to the mattress beneath him. He muttered something about moving in a minute, but Karen didn’t care. She relished the weight of him pressing atop her.

His breath was hot against the back of her neck as he got control of his breathing again. Karen reached her hand around behind her to play through his hair. “Pancakes or waffles?” She questioned quietly, her voice a little raw from shouting.

Frank chuckled, rolling off of her, drawing her into his arms as she settled in beside him. “I ain’t kidding, your pancakes are a little slice of heaven.”

“Pancakes then?” She questioned, yawning a little as fit herself against his chest. “I could do pancakes. Eggs and bacon too?

“Yeah.” Frank rubbed her back. “Protein’s good for healing or some shit right?”

“I think I read that somewhere.” Karen agreed, tilting her head to kiss his throat. “How’s your ribs feeling?”

“Like bruised ribs.” Frank remarked sarcastically. “I’ve had worse.”

“I know you have.” Karen kissed his throat again, nuzzling at it. “Try to come home to me next time without being all broken. I know beggars can’t be choosers but the heart wants what it wants.”

“ _Karen_.”

“I know. I know.” She sighed. “I just hate seeing you hurt. But that’s not to say that I don’t want you coming around. I want you coming around, hurt or not. In fact, come around more when you’re hurt because it worries me more when you spend a week or two away from me rehabilitating.”

“I call.”

“You do.” Karen ran her hands over his beck. “But I miss you anyways.”

Frank sighed heavily, pressing his face into her hair. “I miss you too. More than I ought to. But it ain’t the same without you sleeping next to me.”

“My masterplan is working.” Karen laughed softly, running her hand over his arm.

Frank snorted. “Should’ve known you had a masterplan.” He smiled at her, tilting his head to the side as he looked down at her.

Karen grinned. “I have my ways.” She brushed her fingers gently over his cheek. “How are you?”

“Better.” He said quietly, looking away.

“Yeah?” Karen questioned, a little skeptical. “I wish I could say it’ll get better, but we both know that’s not true.”

“It doesn’t get better, it just gets numb.” Frank swallowed thickly, “I don’t know what fucked with me more… The fact that I didn’t see her or the fact that I saw you.”

“I understand.” She whispered, pressing a kiss to his chest, before resting her cheek there. “For what it’s worth, I’m kinda… glad that it was me you saw. I know I said I have no intention of replacing your family and what you and your wife had and I don’t. What you had was _good_ , really good from what I take it and it means a lot to you, but… It’s strangely nice to know that I’m the one you’re worried about losing now.” Karen cringed, “God that probably made me sound like a complete idiot or an ass.”

“No. It didn’t.” Frank wrapped his arms around her tightly. “I get it. I do. It ain’t fair to you either, making you live in her shadow.” He kissed the top of her head. “I’m gonna try to come around more, Karen.”

“Even if you’re covered in someone else’s blood. That’s what fire escapes are for.” Karen told him and she meant it. She wanted him around, as often as he would come. “You wouldn’t have wanted to come last night anyways, I had pizza.” She said lightly, trying to diffuse the tense air.

Frank chuckled. “I saw the box in the garbage can.”

“It’s a good thing you don’t have a fanbase like the Avengers,” She teased, tilting her head to look at him better. “You should see some of the stuff people come up with about them online.” She laughed. “I’d be on there every day making sure no one claimed that Frank Castle liked pizza.”

“You’d set ‘em all straight, wouldn’t you?” He winked at her. “That’s m’girl.”

Karen smirked. “I would. I’d make sure they all knew that you hated pizza and that you’re most definitely _not_ interested in hooking up with your fans.” Her cheeks were bright red, she just knew it.

“Oh, I’m definitely not interested in _that_. I got you, I don’t need anyone else.”

“I should hope not! I make amazing coffee and a killer breakfast. You’d be crazy to pass up on this.” Karen grinned, wiggling her brows.

“Yeah? What would your username be, huh?” 

Karen scrunched up her nose. “Something fun. Like, I don’t know… FrankCastle4President or DaredevilSucksPunisherRules.” She laughed brightly. “I’m terrible at this stuff. I can’t make up usernames or passwords to save my life. I’m probably the easiest person to hack.”

“You ever look to see if people talk about me?”

“I did.” Karen pursed her lips. “I checked out blogs to see what people were saying when I was working on that article about you being _really_ dead. There’s some people who think you’re alive, most are shoved up Matt’s ass. There’s been a lot of talk lately about the Avengers, I guess they’re more exciting than Hell’s Kitchen’s lot.” She shrugged. “They hated my article. Ellison told me to quit looking at their comments.”

“What did they say?”

“Easy there.” Karen told him, stroking his cheek. “Nothing bad. Just that I was crazy. I couldn’t definitely prove anything. Nothing that hurt my feelings too much. They might think I was some _troll_ or something, but they didn’t know I get to sleep next to you some nights so they’re the informationless fools.”

“Well, if you posted positive articles singing my praise I’m sure they’d think you were batshit.”

“My hero article was _definitely_ about you. So if the batshit comments are going to come, they would have already come. Did you know they had to go through like _four hundred_ potential jurors to find a handful that were mostly impartial? Sure, like half wanted you dead but the other half saw you as a goddamn hero and honestly, I was right there with them. I still think that too.”

“That’s cause you’re batshit. And into serial killers.”

Karen rolled her eyes. “Go to sleep Frank.” She gave him a look, punching him playfully. “We are _not_ getting into that.”

“You’re the one who brought it up!”

“ _No_.” Karen gave him a look. “Ellison brought it up. I just relayed his crazy talk.”

Frank hummed, “ _Mhm_. Crazy talk or not, it’s still true.”

She huffed. “I’m not into serial killers, just because I’m with _one_. I mean, look I dated Matt, but I didn’t know he was the Daredevil and Daredevil pretty strongly discourages murder.” Karen sighed, closing her eyes. “Not into serial killers, just into Frank Castle.”

“I could be content with that.” Frank relaxed beneath her, _finally_ , letting go of all that pent up frustration he’d been clutching at. Like all things, this too would pass. He wouldn’t get over it, so to say, but it would stop being at the forefront of his mind for a little while, until something else forced it back. It wasn’t the past that haunted him now, it was the present or the future that could never be if something happened to her.

“Sleep well Frank.” Karen mumbled, already halfway there herself.

“You too.”


End file.
